Integrated chips use memory to store data and executable programs. As the functionality of an integrated chip increases, the need for more memory also increases, causing integrated chip designers and manufacturers to have to both increase the amount of available memory while decreasing the size and power consumption of an integrated chip. To reach this goal, the size of memory cell components has been aggressively shrunk over the past few decades.
The aggressive shrinkage of memory cells has benefited from the highly repeatable pattern of memory arrays. For example, the repeatable pattern used in memory arrays has allowed for lithography to be tuned to improve the lithographic resolution of memory cells over that of other logic circuits. However, as physical dimensions continue to shrink, the physical limits of elements within the memory cell are beginning to limit the size of memory cells.